SC to hear PIL on caste/region/religion-based Army recruitment

New Delhi (PTI) : The Supreme Court today listed afresh for hearing a plea seeking abolition of recruitment in the Army on the basis of caste, region and religion claiming it was violative of the Constitutional right to equal opportunity in public employment.

"Have you (petitioner) supplied the copy of the petition to

the Solicitor General (SG). Give the copy to the SG. List on April 10," a bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said.

The court was hearing the plea of I S Yadav, a doctor hailing from Rewari in Haryana, seeking abolition of Indian Army's recruitment criteria for its duty soldiers on the grounds of caste, region and religion.

Yadav, in his plea, submitted that unlike Air Force and Navy, there is "discriminatory classification" for recruitment on caste/religion/region basis and submitted that a national policy of recruitment be formed in the Army.

"At recruitment stage there cannot be caste-cum- religion-cum-region based classification. There cannot be specific recruitment on the basis of caste, region and religion to various regiments like Maratha Regiment, Rajasthan Rifles, Dogra Regiment, Jat Regiment, etc. This classification of the army is a British legacy and is not sanctioned by any law made by Parliament," he said.

"In Indian Air Force and in Indian Navy there is no such discriminatory classification of Squadrons/Fleets based on caste/religion/region and hence recruitment in Indian Air Force and Indian Navy is on all-India, all-class basis. Yet in Army alone there are caste/religion/region based regiments," the petitioner said.